The Fiercest Ones Wear Pink
by quicksilversquared
Summary: Years before Hawkmoth's appearance in Paris, Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng took their daughter to the Paris Renaissance Festival. They weren't surprised when she wanted to get a fluffy princess dress, but they weren't expecting her interest in the fighting games...or her prowess.


Marinette squealed with glee as her papa paid for their tickets and finally, _finally_, they got to enter the festival.

She. Was. So. Excited.

"All right, what should we do first?" Mr. Dupain asked, turning back and forth so Marinette could see everything from her vantage point from atop his shoulders. "Games? Food? Explore ye olde stores? Plays?"

"I want to see the horsies!" Marinette decided after a moment's thought. "The ones that are all dressed up!"

Her dad grinned, and set off through the crowds. "All right, then! Here we go!"

They walked and walked, and Marinette watched everything with barely contained glee. All of the workers were dressed up as old-fashioned people- as was to be expected from a renaissance fair- and it was _so. cool. _A couple knights wandered through the crowds, patrolling the streets and keeping the trolls away.

At least, that was what her papa had told her. Marinette had wanted to know who kept the trolls away for the rest of the year, because she hadn't ever seen any trolls in Paris, but he had told her that they only came out when there were old-fashioned foods around.

Which Marinette thought was weird. After all, there wasn't very much old-fashioned food cooked in Paris the rest of the year- or at least she didn't _think_ so- so what did the trolls do then? And what if her mommy decided to experiment with some of the old recipes that she kept tucked at the back of her recipe box? Who kept the trolls away then?

She supposed that the adults took care of it somehow.

Marinette cheered as the horse barn came into sight. Her parents steered them towards the outdoors arena, and then they were seated, waiting for the next jousting match to start.

They didn't have long to wait.

Ten horses trotted out, each decked out in fluttering blankets. Knights sat on top, each carrying a long pole. There were two teams, red and blue, and the last member of each team carried a long, triangular banner in their team's color as they rode. More of those same banners were posted all around the arena, making it look all old-fashioned.

"Watch, they're going to try to knock each other off of their horses," her papa told Marinette, pointing to the knights. "They're all wearing padding so that it doesn't hurt, but they want to see who's more skilled."

"Or who gets in a lucky hit first," her momma added in with a bit of a laugh. "Sometimes one of them just happens to get off-balance and one little knock sends them tumbling."

Marinette nodded, already entranced, though not just with the horses and their riders in the arena. There were people in the audience that dressed up too, and some of them were wearing _really_ pretty gowns and flowers in their hair. They were _gorgeous_, and Marinette's jaw hung open as she watched a whole group of the ladies pass.

She wanted to dress like that when she grew up. They looked _way_ prettier than all of the people wandering around in t-shirts and dirty jeans.

The men of the group passed by next, and they were dressed up, too. Marinette giggled at the goofy pants- and they were wearing _tights_ under the pants, which was funny but it didn't look _bad_, just different.

"Papa," Marinette said as a question came to mind. She tugged on her papa's hand. "Papa, why didn't _we_ dress up?"

"Well, we don't own any clothes like that," her papa told her. "It would be hard to get the flour out of them!"

"But they _are_ very pretty," her mama added. "We can look around at the shops later and see if they have anything in your size, if you want."

Marinette bounced with excitement. Did she want to look? Did she ever! A pretty dress would fit in _much_ better here than her pink playsuit. "Yes, please!"

"All right, but for now, let's watch the jousting," her mama said, smiling. "Look at that horse! Isn't it pretty?"

Marinette looked. It was _very_ pretty. Someone had braided blue ribbons into its mane, and they were bouncing with every step.

The jousting was very exciting, and then Marinette went back up on her papa's shoulders so that they could head over to another show. This one had birds- eagles and hawks and falcons, her mama told her- that flew around over their heads. Marinette watched, entranced, as all of the birds returned to their perches at the end of the show, preening and watching the audience members. Then they went and watched some jugglers and fire-breathers, and then they went and watched a couple knights battle each other.

They were _very_ good, and Marinette knew that must have practiced fighting each other a lot to make sure that they could win against the trolls.

If the trolls actually existed, that was. Marinette still wasn't sure if she believed that. After all, why wouldn't trolls want any _other_ kinds of food? That sounded like a fairy tale.

"I'm hungry now," Marinette announced after one knight was knocked down and the other was pronounced victorious. "Can we eat?"

Her papa grinned and scooped her up, back up onto his shoulders. "All right! Let's go off to find some troll food!"

Marinette cheered, completely missing her mom's exasperated "Tom, what _have_ you been telling her?"

Laughing, her papa led the way to the food yard. There, all sorts of food stalls were set up, most of them with turrets or flags decorating the top. It smelled very, _very_ good.

Marinette still didn't see any trolls. But there were knights here- a _lot_ more than anywhere else- which, well, if there _weren't _trolls like her papa said, why else would there be so many of them here?

"Okay, we'll find something that you'll eat," her mama said, scanning the stalls. "Ah- not that one, I think. Or that. I think Marinette might eat some of the stuff on that menu, though."

Soon they were seated at a picnic table with their food, and Marinette dug into her meal, stew in a bread bowl. It was really good, but there was a _lot_, more than she could eat.

"Papa, I'm full," Marinette announced, pushing her bread-bowl away. She had eaten most of the stew and part of the bowl, too, and it was a _lot_. "Do I have to finish?"

Her papa chuckled. "I'll finish it up, darling. Just don't tell the trolls."

"_Tom_."

After lunch, they wandered through the streets, looking at all of the storefronts. There were people in front of some of the shops, showing off how they made their wares. They stopped to watch one lady spin wool while another one wove it into a blanket. A painter brushed a picture of the festival into being. A pair of people worked with red-hot glass to blow it and shape it into fancy designs.

It was interesting at first, but it took so _long_ for things to be made and so Marinette sort of got distracted. Twisting around on her papa's shoulders, she peered at the other shops in the area. One had brown purses and bags and jackets, which were pretty but _boring_. Another had wood carvings, which were _also_ pretty but were probably the sort of thing that Marinette wouldn't be allowed to touch. Another had clothes of the sort that Marinette had been admiring so much, and she craned her neck to try to see if there were any in _her_ size.

After all, her mama had _promised_ that they could look for a dress for Marinette, and what would the _point_ of buying a dress be if she didn't get to wear it at the festival for more than a couple minutes?

"Can we go in there?" Marinette asked, pointing, once it seemed like her parents had finally lost interest in the glass people. "To look for a dress?"

"Sure!" Her papa lifted her up and let her back down on the ground so that he could take one of her hands and her mama could take the other. "Let's find a sparkly dress for you!"

The first store didn't have anything anywhere _close_ to Marinette's size. She pouted, but one of the workers gave her parents a list of other clothing shops at the festival that would likely have kids' sizes.

In the third shop that they visited, Marinette found _the_ dress. It was dark pink and had pretty silver beads and a floofy princess skirt.

And it fit _perfectly_.

"Is that the one you want?" her mama asked, and Marinette nodded eagerly, spinning around and watching the skirt poof out.

This dress was _perfect_.

Three minutes later, they left the shop, with Marinette's old outfit tucked into her mama's purse and with her in her pretty new dress.

They kept wandering, with Marinette skipping along between her parents. Before long, she spotted a face-painting stand, and she tugged on her mama's hand.

"Can I get my face painted?" Marinette wanted to know. She pointed. "Look at all of the pretty designs!"

"One painted face, coming right up!" her mama promised. "If we go fast, maybe the line won't be too bad."

The line wasn't bad at all- at least, that's what her papa said, but they still had to wait several minutes. Marinette spent the time looking over the designs that they offered, and by the time she reached the front she had decided.

"I want the flowers design," she announced, pointing to it. "The vine-y one!"

"What colors do you want it in?" the painter asked, swirling her brush in a glass of water to clean it. Marinette thought about it, looking at the colors that the painter had. She lit up and pointed to two.

"Pink and silver!" Marinette said, pointing. "Pretty pink flowers and silver vines!"

"Do you want any silver glitter paint?" The painter reached over and picked up a small pot to show to Marinette. Sure enough, it was glittery silver. Marinette perked up and nodded eagerly, and the painter smiled.

"All right. Sit right on down and close your eyes, and we'll make you into the prettiest princess on the streets."

Marinette sat down and closed her eyes, doing her best to stay still even as the paintbrush started tickling her face. The design started at one side of her forehead and worked across her face and even a little down her cheek, like some sort of mask. One flower-covered vine curled under her eye, and Marinette giggled as the brush hit a particularly ticklish spot.

"Almost done," the painter promised. "You're doing so well with sitting still. Just another minute and I'll be finished."

Marinette almost nodded in understanding, but caught herself at the last second.

The paintbrush kept tickling across her face, and then it stopped. "Okay, you can open your eyes. You're all ready."

Marinette opened her eyes, and gasped at her reflection in the mirror that the painter was holding up. "It's so pretty!"

"It turned out _very_ well," the painter agreed. "Now off you go, and show it off to everyone!"

Beaming, Marinette hopped off of the chair and re-joined her parents. They headed off to look at more shops, and now Marinette started yawning, bored.

Sure, the stuff on the shelves was kinda cool, but there was only so much shopping she could stand before she started getting tired. It wasn't until they headed past a series of game stalls that she started perking up again.

And then one of the stalls caught her eye: People were throwing axes at the opposite wall of the stall, and on that wall were paintings of _trolls._

"Papa, can I do that?" Marinette asked, tugging at her papa's hand. "I wanna take out trolls!"

Her papa looked at the stall, pausing mid-stride. "Uh."

"_Please_, papa? Please, mama?"

"Uh, maybe another year," her mama said, wincing. "Not this year."

"They don't have any kid-sized axes," her papa added. "So they would be too big for your little hands."

Marinette pouted. That was no fun! She wanted to practice taking out trolls, too. Just in case they _were_ real and ever came sniffing around her mama's cooking.

They kept walking, and Marinette was about to start complaining about her feet hurting so that she could go ride on her papa's shoulders again when she spotted another arena. This one had several knights in it, and one of them was fighting with a visitor. Their swords crossed, and Marinette watched as they fought. After that person was defeated, a kid her age trotted in with a kid-sized sword to challenge the knight.

A _kid-sized sword_. Marinette was heading that way in a flash, running to join the short line before her parents could object.

"Marinette, where are you going?" her mama called after her. Marinette paused for long enough to point at the arena, grinning wildly.

"They have kid sized swords, mama!"

Marinette waited eagerly in line, watching as the people in front of her entered the arena, one by one. Some of them won against a knight or two, while others were disarmed early on. Marinette wanted to win at least _one_ match. As she picked out a sword, though, she glanced over and saw how _big_ the knights were. They weren't _nearly_ as big as her papa, but they were way, _way_ bigger than Marinette.

Hefting her sword, Marinette scowled. She wasn't going to let that stop her! People always underestimated her or said that she couldn't do stuff because she was too _small_ and that was annoying.

"All right, your turn," the attendant told her, opening the gates. "Go forth, princess, and see if you can defeat the evil knights of Paris!"

Marinette nodded, then charged forward at the first knight with the loudest yell she could muster.

She was going to fight, and she was going to _win_.

* * *

Tom and Sabine watched their very pink, very sparkly daughter mow down all of the knights in the ring with equal parts amusement and alarm. Marinette seemed to know instinctively that at her height, she could and should be going for the knees to knock them down to her height before whacking their swords out of their hands and dealing a "killing blow", leaving a trail of downed knights in her wake.

"Hear ye, hear ye, Princess Marinette has defeated all of the evil knights!" the announcer at the far end called out, hitting a large bell to get the attention of everyone in the area. "Six evil knights all brought to their knees by her skills with the sword. Three cheers for the Princess Marinette!"

Neither of them could hold back their grins as all of the employees let out a loud "Hip, hip, hooray!". Marinette was grinning at the attention, looking pleased under her sparkly pink face paint.

"For your service, we award thee this crown of flowers!" the announcer continued, pausing to deliberate over what was no doubt a selection of flower crowns before pulling out a ring of pink and white flowers and arranging it on Marinette's head. "And we also award thee this medal!"

"Oh, I'm gonna need a picture of her in that get-up," Sabine said with a laugh as they headed over to join Marinette. Their daughter was admiring the medal that the announcer had looped over her head, beaming proudly.

Tom laughed. "You don't already have enough from the fights?"

"I don't know how many of those will actually turn out." Sabine patted her camera. "And with the flowers and the medal…"

"Would you like to try your hand at fighting the dragon and rescuing the princess from her tower?" the announcer was asking Marinette when they finally reached her. "It's a bit harder than the knights, but we haven't had a brave princess like you try it yet."

"Yes!" Marinette exclaimed immediately, bouncing up and down. "Where is it?"

"Right over there," the announcer told her, pointing to an arena that was partially hidden by the trees. Sure enough, a roar was just audible over the noise of the crowd. "They'll tell you the rules. Good luck!"

Beaming, Marinette charged off again, and Tom and Sabine hurried after her. The line over here was shorter, but more people were watching as the large "dragon" breathed fluttering fabric "flames" towards the current contestant. Marinette didn't look at all worried as she joined the line and the attendant explained the rules to her.

Her goal was to take down the dragon and free the princess from the tower. She would get a sword and a shield. If the flames touched her, she was out.

Straightforward enough, but apparently pretty hard, if the number of frustrated-looking people nearby was any indicator.

"Oh, I wish she had quit after the knights," Sabine said as Marinette moved up in line. "She could have ended on a high note then. She's going to be all upset when she loses."

"_If_ she loses," Tom corrected. "I wouldn't be surprised if they go easier on kids. Besides, look at the shield she just grabbed. If she hides behind that, the flames won't hit her." He grinned. "I'd lose right away. Those shields wouldn't hide enough. Otherwise, I'd be in line right behind her."

Sabine sighed. "Yes, I know. I know _exactly_ which side of the family she gets all this from."

Another adult left the arena defeated, looking a bit disgruntled as he did. Marinette was next, and Sabine took out her camera again to try to get some good shots. The dragon turned to face Marinette and she raised her shield and sword, determined look on her sparkly face.

The roar of the dragon practically shook the ground, and Marinette charged forward. It opened its mouth, and Sabine braced herself for a quick defeat.

It didn't happen. Marinette had hunkered down under the shield just in time, and the "flames" draped harmlessly over the top. The dragon got closer, and closer, its snout practically touching the shield when the flames receded.

Almost faster than they could blink, Marinette popped up shield-first, ramming it into the dragon's nose as hard as she could. It reeled back, startled, and Marinette took the opening to rush forward towards the legs.

"Take out the kneecaps!" Tom called gleefully. "Atta girl!"

"I hope those poor actors are wearing plenty of padding," Sabine said as the first leg crumpled under Marinette's frankly vicious attack. "She's not holding back one bit."

Partway to leg number two, the dragon recovered enough from the hit to the face to breathe more "fire". Marinette blocked it again, scampering in a half-crouch behind the shield as she headed for the next leg. As soon as the fire let up again, she battered the second leg into submission.

"Now take out the head!" Tom called. "Or the heart, if you can find it!"

Marinette was already on it. Shield up to protect herself, she charged towards the head, hitting the side hard. The head reeled back, but she followed it, stabbing at the eye just _barely_ within her reach. There was another roar- how Marinette wasn't even flinching, Sabine didn't know- and then the eye squeezed shut as though injured. Marinette gave the head more whacks before running around the dragon and stabbing the other eye. When the dragon opened its mouth to roar in "pain", Marinette reached up as far as she could to stab the top of the dragon's mouth several times in quick succession.

"Aha," Tom said approvingly. "She went for the soft bit. Very good."

The dragon's last roar was weaker, and it swayed for a few moments before collapsing. A cheer went up, and even the previous contestants that were still hanging around were clapping. Marinette delivered one last hit, then finally lowered her shield as the announcer waved her over to get her medal, accompanied by the "saved" princess. She beamed and headed over, sparkly pink dress flouncing around her.

The difference between her and the large, dangerous-looking green and black dragon was pretty comical.

"Mom, did you see that?" a blond boy on Tom's other side asked, tugging at his mom's sleeve. "Did you see her take down the dragon? She's so cool!"

"Yes, I saw, dear," his mom assured him with a giggle. "It was very cool."

"She was just like- _whoosh_! And then she hit the dragon like-" The boy hopped around, wielding an imaginary sword. "That was _awesome! _Can we go meet her?"

"If you want."

The boy cheered, then paused before he could run off and hid behind his mom's leg. "Or maybe I could just wave instead?"

"Someone suddenly got shy," his mom said with a laugh, patting his head. "I think someone has a crush."

"You know, I thought I would dread the day that Marinette started getting attention from boys," Tom told Sabine as they left the fence and headed around to collect Marinette and her medals, leaving the blond boy and his mom behind. "But boys sitting up and taking notice when she's kicking butt is good. I can handle that."

Sabine laughed. "I think attention from boys can still stand to wait a few years."

"Yeah, but if it's gotta happen, then it had better happen for the right reasons. Now the bar is set for any boys in the future who might get crushes on Marinette."

Sabine sighed.

"Mama! Papa! Look at what I got! Did you see me defeat the dragon?"

"The sparkly berserker is yours, then, right?" the gate attendant asked as he let them in. He was grinning. "That was great."

"Yeah, you wouldn't expect it with all the pink and tulle and glitter, would you?" Sabine shook her head in amusement as Marinette flew up into her arms, sword and shield forgotten on the ground. "She's fierce."

"Actually, it's more common than you would think," the attendant told them, and both Tom and Sabine blinked in surprise. "It seems like the fiercest ones wear the most pink. We don't get a lot of little girls trying to fight the dragon, but the ones that _do_ almost always end up winning. We tell the actors that there's a Code Pink to make sure that all of them have all of their padding on and haven't ditched anything because of the heat, because otherwise..."

"They could say good-bye to their kneecaps," Tom finished.

"Let's get a picture of you and all of your medals," Sabine suggested. "Here, by the fence- smile for the camera!"

Marinette beamed, and the shutter snapped once, twice, three times.

"I can take one of the three of you if you want," the attendant offered. "D'you want one with the dragon in the background?"

"That would be great," Sabine said at once, handing over the camera. "Marinette, you can sit on the fence, like so, and Tom can be here."

"All right, on three! One, two, three-"

"_Cheese!_"

* * *

_Present-day Paris_

The dragon had been rampaging all over Paris for the last half-hour. Buildings had been burned or torn apart, windows broken by the long talons as it clambered over buildings, breathing fire at anyone who ventured too close. Several cars in the streets below had been toasted.

Tom and Sabine watched the news feed on the bakery TV anxiously, keeping one eye on the screen and the other on the street, in case there were any stray pedestrians passing by in need of shelter. All of the on-the-ground news reporters had had the sense to take shelter, thankfully, and now a news helicopter was following the dragon, staying out of the reach of the licking flames as it recorded the fight below.

Or, well, the dragon below. Ladybug and Chat Noir had retreated a couple minutes back, no doubt to come up with a new plan of attack that would end the fight quickly.

"I'm glad Marinette wasn't fighting a dragon like this when we went to the Renaissance Festival," Tom said shakily as they watched another row of townhouses catch fire. It was starting to get a little close for comfort. "And I'm glad that she and her friends weren't going to the fair until tomorrow. I imagine that was where this akuma came from."

"I imagine," Sabine agreed. "Oh, look, there's Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"And Ladybug has come up with a sword and shield," Tom added. "Oh, look at her go! Just like Marinette did!"

Sabine could only nod as they watched Ladybug charge in fearlessly, blocking the fire with her shield before taking advantage of a short opening in the flames to deliver a hard blow to the dragon's snout, and then the side of its head. It staggered, and Ladybug jumped down to go after the joints of its legs in a series of blows almost too fast to follow. While the dragon struggled under the new onslaught, Chat Noir circled the beast. presumably to try to locate the possessed object. By the look of it, he was coming up empty.

"I bet it was the costume itself that was possessed," Tom said suddenly. "If they slice it, maybe-"

"I'd bet that they'll have to hit a soft spot," Sabine said. "So the eyes or inside of the mouth. And considering that that's _real_ fire…"

Onscreen, Ladybug seemed to have come to the same conclusion. She continued her relentless attack, making sure that she had disabled the front legs before cutting down the back legs as well. She dodged a blast of fire- and wasn't it nerve-wracking to watch her bob and weave so close to real, white-hot flames?- and jumped onto the dragon's back, racing towards the head and then using the shield to beat it into submission long enough for her to grab her sword and stab the inside of the mouth. The dragon promptly deflated, and the now-familiar shape of a corrupted akuma fluttered free for her to catch.

"She's certainly fierce," Tom said with a laugh as Ladybug's Miraculous Cure swept over Paris, setting everything right again and turning the dragon back into a costume. "And she used the shield just like Marinette did, as both protection and a hammer of sorts. Nice to know that that technique works in real life, too."

Sabine sent him a Look. "And when, pray tell, would you ever use that information?"

Tom laughed. "Never, probably. But it's interesting to watch. But Sabine, speaking of the fair…"

"Yes, Tom?"

He grinned. "Remember what that gate attendant told us after Marinette defeated their dragon? I'd bet _anything_ that Ladybug likes pink."

* * *

The Renaissance Fair was _really_ taking advantage of the fact that they had had a real, live dragon on the grounds, Alya noticed as she and Marinette made their way towards the main square. Pictures of the dragon clinging to the buildings and facing off with cowering "knights" had been posted all around the admission stands, adding a bit of flair to the stands.

"I wonder if the line to fight the dragon will be longer or shorter today," Alya commented, glancing over towards the fields where she knew those sort of events were held. "I mean, it's not _likely_ that Hawkmoth would akumatize the same person two days in a row, but that was a _super_ scary akuma." She grinned at Marinette. "Are you going to try your hand against the dragon again? Maybe add another couple of medals to your collection?"

"Maybe," Marinette said absently, shrugging a little as she smoothed down her skirt. She had decided to try her hand at designing a Rennesance-style dress for their trip to the fair, and she was _really_ happy at how it had turned out. The scarlet-red dress didn't have _quite_ as much body to it as her poofy pink princess dress had years ago, but it still had plenty of room in the skirt. "If people want to do that. I'd like to try the ax-throwing station myself. My papa never let me do it when I was younger."

Alya gave her friend an alarmed look. "The _ax-throwing booth?_ Yeah, no kidding! I think I'll stand clear myself when you're there."

Marinette pouted.

It didn't take them long to find Nino and Adrien. Nino was laughing about something, and Adrien had a slight flush across his cheeks.

"Yo!" Nino called as Alya and Marinette joined them. "Adrien here was just telling me about the last time he came to the fair. Apparently he got his first-ever crush here."

"Oh?" Alya asked, perking up. "Do tell!"

Adrien just groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"And now he's gone all shy," Nino said with a laugh. "My dude was just telling me that he came here with his mom once when he was, like, six. He doesn't remember much of it, but apparently they spent a bit of time hanging out down by the knight and dragon rings, where he saw this vision in pink and sparkles and promptly fell in love."

"It was- she wasn't a _vision_," Adrien protested. "She was real. There was a girl around my age," he told Alya and Marinette. "Around my age at the time, I mean. And she completely trounced all of the 'evil' knights in that ring- she brought them to their knees, even- and then I followed her to the dragon ring, and she just charged in all fearlessly and brought _it_ to its knees. I think my mom and I had been watching those rings for almost an hour, and she was the first one who won in both."

"While wearing a cloud of pink and sparkles with a equally sparkly pink mask on her face," Nino added. "That was _really_ important, apparently."

"That's what I remember about her!"

"Funny you mention that, actually," Alya drawled, pulling her phone out of her pocket and pulling up one of the pictures that she had snapped a photo of earlier that morning while waiting for Marinette to get ready. She zoomed in on one side of the picture and held it up for them to see. "Is this you, Adrien?"

All three of her friends leaned in to see. On the screen, a blond six-year-old gazed at something off-screen, mouth open slightly and eyes wide in a clear look of adoration. Behind him, a younger Mrs. Agreste half-crouched next to her son.

"I- yeah, that's me," Adrien said, a small grin appearing on his face. "And my mom."

" And he's in love, all right," Nino added with a snort. "I recognize that dopey-eyed look. It hasn't changed a bit."

Adrien spluttered.

"And is _this_ your dream girl?" Alya continued, zooming out so that they could see the girl in the foreground, black hair pulled back in pigtails and dressed from head to toe in pink. Pink flowers and sparkly silver vines formed a mask of sorts on her face, and the pink mid-shin princess dress sparkled in the light. She was beaming as she held up two medals.

"Yeah!" Adrien said at once, grinning as he leaned in to take a better look at the picture. "That's her! She's absolutely adorable. See, Nino, I wasn't exaggerating about the pink, was I? Or the sparkles?"

Nino laughed. "No, no you weren't. I can't believe you remembered that after so long."

Adrien gave the photo another fond glance. "Well, my mom liked reminding me about her. Apparently I talked about nothing else for a solid _month_ after the fair. I did a couple drawings of her, too- I found one of them in a scrapbook that my mom did for me when I went looking yesterday after the akuma fight."

Nino grinned. "Were there hearts drawn all around her?"

Adrien's flaming cheeks were all the answer that they needed.

"Well, it's obvious that Adrien has a type," Nino added, clearly not done with teasing his friend. "Kick-ass, fierce, masked, with black hair and pigtails- he's just upgraded from pink to red."

"_Nino_," Adrien protested. "I do _not_ have a type-"

"You _totally_ have a type, dude." Nino was grinning. "Tell them the last bit!"

Alya's grin widened even more. "There's more?"

Adrien groaned, burying his face in his hands. His voice came out muffled as he talked. "I really, _really_ wanted to go fight the knights and the dragon, too, so I could maybe impress her. My mom wouldn't let me, since she thought it would be too dangerous and that my father wouldn't approve. And then, a week later, I saw this ad about Mr. D'Argencourt's fencing school and, well…"

"You took up fencing just to impress a girl? At _six years old?_ Man, Agreste, you were working to impress the ladies _ages_ ago. You had _game_."

"_One_ girl," Adrien muttered, as though that made any difference. He let out a huff. "But I didn't get to go back to the fair again until this year, so I didn't get to use my fencing skills at all for those contests. And fencing and swordfighting…. Well, fencing has a lot of rules. Swordfighting is more uninhibited." He glanced at Alya's picture again, and his eyes narrowed as another thought occurred to him. "Wait, Alya- where, exactly, did you find that picture?"

"Funny you ask!" Alya sent a delighted look at Marinette, who had been silent throughout the entire exchange and was turning steadily redder. "Do you by any chance recognize _these_ people?"

With a practiced flick of her finger, Alya swiped to the next photo. On it, clear as day, Adrien's mystery crush sat between Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng, defeated dragon slumped in the background. Her smile was huge as she clutched the heavy medals that sat in such contrast to the light pink.

"Oh, it's Marinette!" Nino exclaimed in delight. "I did _not_ see that coming. Hey, Adrien, you've got another chance to impress your pink princess!"

Adrien looked _stunned_. "I- uh-"

"Marinette's parents were showing me their photo album from the fair while we waited for Marinette to get ready," Alya told them, impish grin spreading across her face. "I recognized Adrien's mom right away."

Marinette's face was starting to match her dress.

"And they were telling me about how Marinette took down the knights and the dragon," Alya continued. "She just mowed them down. Took out their kneecaps and then whacked them into submission."

"I still have the medals," Marinette admitted, her voice almost inaudible. "Mostly because they were cool."

"Okay, that settles it, bro," Nino said, the grin on his face mirroring Alya's as he nudged Adrien's shoulder with his own. "You _gotta_ go try to do the fights. Just channel your inner Ladybug and go for it."

"I'm going to channel _my_ inner superhero and try it," Alya chimed in. "Though I think I'll refrain from dressing up in a princess gown while I do it. I feel like it would get in the way."

Marinette managed a haughty sniff. "It only gets in the way if you _let_ it get in the way."

"Yeah, well, pink and sparkles aren't my style."

Nino laughed. "Good, because if it _were_, you would be getting uncomfortably close to Adrien's type."

Adrien groaned. "Okay, seriously, I don't have a _type_."

"Are you sure, Agreste? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that you definitely _do_. Do we need to make a list listing everything that Little Marinette and Ladybug have in common?"

Marinette winced. "Okay, how about we don't?"

"Blue eyes, black hair, pigtails, a mask of sorts…" Nino started, and Alya nodded, picking up the list.

"Dressed in shades of pink-slash-red, pretty darn kickass, took down a dragon- that's a lot, isn't it?"

Adrien sighed as Nino and Alya stuck their heads together to keep brainstorming. Instead of arguing, Adrien offered an arm to Marinette.

"Should we start exploring and leave these two to scheme?" Adrien asked, sounding composed despite his red cheeks. "Did you have anywhere that you wanted to go?"

Marinette didn't even have to think about it. "The face-painting booth, for sure. And I was telling Alya that I wanted to do the ax-throwing booth earlier, but she laughed at me," she added, pouting in Alya's direction. "_Some_ people have no faith in me."

Adrien grinned. "If want to try ax-throwing, then we'll try ax-throwing. Maybe you'll win another medal. And then d'you want to try the dragon again? I want to see how I measure up against the warrior princess."

Marinette beamed up at him. "Sure! I'm going to have to adjust my strategy, though. I'm not _quite_ small enough to just hide behind my shield anymore."

"I want to do it in costume, too," Adrien decided "So we'll have to do a bit of shopping first. You look fabulous, by the way," he added, glancing over at Marinette's dress. "That's a gorgeous dress. Did you make it?"

Marinette flushed in pleasure. "Yeah! I really enjoyed getting to play with some elements that I don't get to use with normal, everyday designs. I'm really happy with how it turned out."

"It looks fantastic! I feel _seriously_ underdressed next to you." Adrien flashed her a smile. "Maybe you can help me find a good outfit, too."

Marinette smiled, wrapping her hand more snugly around Adrien's arm. "I'd like that."

_Fin_

* * *

_a/n: yes, this is totally 100% inspired by that one Tumblr post about sparkly pink dress-wearing girls being the most kickass. The dragon is my own invention, though. :D Also, Adrien 100% has a type, and it's called Marinette._

_As always, reviews make my day! :)_


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